Police arrested a man in the southeastern US state of Louisiana immediately after he falsified a police report that a Tesla automobile hit him in a parking lot. Without being aware of that all Tesla autos record their camera footage, the man stated a Tesla “backed into him”, causing him to fall on the pavement. The 47-year-old man, identified by the neighborhood police as Arthur Bates Jr, also claimed that the car driver fled the scene immediately after the incident. A video shared by the police division showed how the man staged the complete episode on September 3.
The clip has no sound. It showed Mr Bates abruptly falling behind the car and dramatising the “accident”. He attempted to seek the interest of passers by and remained on the pavement for some time, then turning to his side and dialling his mobile phone, possibly informing the authorities. The car then moves away from him and goes on its way. The Tesla driver appeared to come to him and checked on him just before leaving.
Mr Bates had complained of back, leg and neck injuries, following which an ambulance and fire truck had to be dispatched to the place. When police officers discovered the Tesla, the driver told them Mr Bates intentionally jumped behind his car and staged the accident. “Unbeknownst to Mr Bates, Tesla’s record all the footage of their cameras. When Slidell Police officers reviewed the Tesla’s video footage, it became apparent that Bates was lying and staged the entire event,” the police stated in the post.
The video has garnered more than 2 lakh views and received more than 6,000 comments, some referring to individuals attempting to make cash by falsifying accidents.
“I’ve heard this is becoming a popular “sport”, specially in the Walmart parking lot in Natchez,” wrote a user.
Appreciating the technologies, yet another stated, “This happens way more than people think. Cameras do help sometimes, after all.”
This particular person stated that he is “still amazed” that individuals never know about Tesla’s cameras regardless of all the videos undertaking the rounds on the Internet.
“He picked the wrong car,” study one of the comments.
Another particular person wrote, “I love how the driver pushes the man’s foot off his car and is like, “man get your foot off my car”,”
Mr Bates later admitted to falsifying the police report and was arrested.